黑料社

MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Vice President Sara Duterte accused Speaker Martin Romualdez and House committee on appropriations chair Zaldy Co (Ako Bicol Party-list) of controlling and manipulating the allocation of the national budget.

In a video of an interview shared with members of the media by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) on Tuesday, Duterte said:

鈥淎ng budget ng Pilipinas ay hawak lang ng dalawang tao. Hawak lang siya ni Cong. Zaldy Co at ni Cong. Martin Romualdez. 鈥榊an ang katotohanan.鈥�

(The budget of the Philippines is held by only two people. Cong just controls it. Zaldy Co and Cong. Martin Romualdez. That鈥檚 the truth.)

The OVP said Duterte鈥檚 interview happened on Sept. 4 but did not say where the interview took place and who was interviewing Duterte.

READ: Sara Duterte: I鈥檓 not a brat, solons just don鈥檛 like my answers

According to Duterte, Romualdez and Co control and manipulate the budget allocation as they see fit for their personal gain.

She cited a particular incident involving the DepEd鈥檚 2023 budget in which P5 billion was allocated for classroom construction. But Duterte said some members of the House then suddenly asked for a share of that budget, which she refused and insisted on using it for classroom needs.

Because of this, the House allegedly raised the budget by P10 billion 鈥� a portion 鈥渃ontrolled鈥� by Romualdez and Co.

鈥淜aya kung makikita ninyo sa budget proposal na approved ng Office of the President, P5 billion 鈥榶un. Pero noong lumabas 鈥榶ung GAA (General Appropriations Act) 鈥榶ung budget approved noong 2023, naging P15 billion siya dahil hindi nga ako pumayag na kunin 鈥榶ung P5 billion, dinagdagan nila ng P10 billion 鈥榶ung classroom construction ng Department of Education,鈥� said Duterte.

(So if you can see in the budget proposal approved by the Office of the President, that鈥檚 P5 billion. But when the GAA came out, the budget approved in 2023, it became P15 billion because I did not agree to take the P5 billion, they added P10 billion to the classroom construction of the Department of Education.)

鈥溾�榊ung P10 billion na 鈥榶un hindi kontrolado ng Department of Education. Controlled 鈥榶un ni Cong. Zaldy Co at Cong. Martin Romualdez. Hindi ko na kailangan ng corroborative witness dito dahil makikita ninyo 鈥榶un sa papel. Makikita ng taumbayan 鈥榶un sa papel. NEP (National Expenditure Program), P5 billion. Lumabas ang budget approved, P15 billion,鈥� she added.

(The Department of Education does not control P10 billion. Cong. controlled that. Zaldy Co. and Cong. Martin Romualdez. I don鈥檛 need a corroborative witness here because you can see it in the paper. The people will see that in the paper. NEP, P5 billion. The approved budget that came out was P15 billion.)

The same thing allegedly happened to the DepEd鈥檚 2024 budget in which the proposed P19 billion for classroom construction 鈥� as approved by the Office of the President 鈥� was raised by the House to P24 billion, according to Duterte who led the education agency until she resigned last June.

鈥淎t doon sa P24 billion na 鈥榶un, kung hahanapin mo sa papel, kinuha nila ang P5 billion ng repairs ng classroom at nilagay nila doon sa P19 billion para maging P24 billion siya. So, ang naiwan sa repairs, sa kawawang mga classroom ay P1 billion,鈥� she said.

(And out of that P24 billion, if you look on paper, they took P5 billion for classroom repairs and put it in P19 billion to make it P24 billion. So, what was left in the repairs, in the poor classrooms is P1 billion.)

READ:

鈥淜aya makikita ninyo sa papel, nandiyan 鈥榶an, naging P24 billion at hindi lang 鈥榶an, dahil noong 2023 ay hindi ako pumayag na hindi masunod 鈥榶ung DepEd na rules sa paano mag-classroom construction based on need, ang ginawa ngayong 2024, in-attach nila ang listahan na kung saan gagawin ang mga classroom construction worth P17 billion. Makikita ninyo 鈥榶un sa papel,鈥� she added.

(So you can see on paper, it鈥檚 there, it became P24 billion and that鈥檚 not all, because in 2023 I did not agree to not follow the DepEd rules on how to do classroom construction based on need, what was done this 2024, in -they attached the list where the classroom construction worth P17 billion will be done. You can see that in the paper.)

Duterte said this is the reason why she resigned from her post as Education Secretary and refused to go through the question and answer portion of the OVP鈥檚 budget deliberations in the House of Representatives.

鈥淒agdag ko lang 鈥榶an doon sa confirmation na kinuha nila 鈥榶ung budget ng DepEd. At isa 鈥榶an sa mga rason kung bakit ako nag-resign sa Department of Education. Hindi na ako papayag na sa susunod na taon ganyan pa rin ang gawin nila at ako 鈥榶ung mananagot sa ginagawa nila,鈥� said Duterte.

(I just added that to the confirmation that they took the DepEd budget. And that is one of the reasons why I resigned from the Department of Education. I will not allow them to do the same next year and I will be responsible for what they do.)

鈥淜aya 鈥榶an 鈥榶ung sinasabi ko, 鈥極h, bakit pa tayo mag-question and answer dito para atakihin ninyo ako. Eh, ang masusunod lang naman sa budget dalawang tao lang鈥�,鈥� she added.

(So that鈥檚 what I鈥檓 saying, 鈥極h, why should we do a question and answer here so that you can attack me. Eh, the only two people are in charge of the budget.)